Hello all! I've played quite a few Diplos now, and I notice a lot of people don't seem to understand the concept. Read on if you want to learn how to Diplo without becoming PE Every game, Getting yelled at for being a whiner, or getting a terrible starting position.

Basic Rules:
1. READ THE RULES; even the most experienced players should read the game rules before the game begins. Every Diplo is different, and you never know what rules will be changed.
2. Don't be a Dick; be nice to people. Even if they're crushing you in a war, don't swear and insult them constantly.
3. Pay Attention; if somebody asks you for something, respond in a timely manner, EX: if they ask you to lower borders, and you don't see it, they may get angry and declare war. This also means that you should TAKE YOUR TURN. Do not join a game and then completely ignore it, this only makes it more boring for those who are actually playing.

Claim Rules:
1. If you are allowed to make initial claims, PAY ATTENTION. Read the chat through first to make sure the territory or bonus you want isn't already claimed. Also, be courteous, and don't pick a territory right next to somebody else's
2.If somebody makes a claim to neutral territory during the game, its nice to respect their claim, unless you claimed it first. If you really want that claim, don't just go in and disregard them, ask them about it, negotiate for it, that's what playing a diplo is about.

War Rules:
1. Don't be a land whore; if a country is about to be defeated, don't jump on the war train at the very end just so you can snag some free land.
2. Avoid Gangbanging; If there are already 2 vs 1, don't jump on unless your allies explicitly ask you. Otherwise, you look like a jerk.
3. Don't whine War; It's part of the game. If a group of 3 allies attack you, don't whine about it, they're allies, they're gonna work together. Whining "But its unfair, you clearly have no concept of a Diplo" (Highlander, I'm looking at you...) will not make your problem go away, it only makes you look like a spoiled 9 year old.
4. Don't warmonger excessivley; If you're a massive country, don't invade a lot of smaller ones, maybe 1 or two, but crushing only the little countries makes you a jerk, and an ass.

Alliance Rules:
1. Obey Game Rules; Don't form an alliance of 10 when the game specifies maximum of 8...
2. Don't cross-alliance; Don't join two alliances at once, many game creators don't forbid this, and doing it gets you into really sticky situations.
3. Don't whine about Backstabs; Your allies may backstab you, that's part of the game, don't complain about it, deal with it.

Game Creation Advice:
1. Write Clear, Concise rules; If your rules look like this:
" declare to attack
dont moan
maek alliances
break rules and be PE"
It looks terrible, and many people will ignore the rules, but if they Look like this:
" 1. Declare war to attack
2. Do not complain about things
3. Alliances are allowed, group alliances have a max of 5 members
4. If you break these rules you will be PE, any player can attack a PE without a Declaration"
It looks more professional, and people will pay attention.

2. In a claim game, frequently post a list of claimed territories, it's your responsibility as the host to help people keep track of who has what, so as not to screw up the game.
3. DO NOT HOST A GAME AND LEAVE; This means, don't host a game, without actually being in it. If it takes too long to fill, it goes off the board, and nobody can put it back. This is extremely irritating.
4. In a real time game, allow players to ask for slots, its a lot less tedious than declining and joining. What's worse, a little more work for you, or unhappy, bored players?

Booting Rules:
1. Do not boot if somebody says "Don't boot" or something similar.
2. Be patient, especially in real-time games. Some players have a lot of armies to deal with. Give them a little past the timer before you boot them, and warn them also, so you can know if they're still active.

Misc. Rules:
1. VOTE TO END; Unless the host states otherwise, you should vote to end if a majority do so. This is part of diplos, if an agreement comes for peace, then let there be peace.
2. Apologies fix things; If you screw up and accidentally invade a territory, or boot a player, APOLOGIZE. If you invaded a territory, allow them to take it back, and apologize. People will be more understanding if you admit you are wrong.
3. Do not make unreasonable Demands; If a player accidentally invades your territory, don't force them to let you invade theirs to make up for "Loss of Bonus" deal with it, accidents happen. Don't charge huge prices for trades either.

That's it folks, I hope you found this helpful, and suggestions are appreciated. Happy Diplo-ing!

Edited 10/4/2014 14:16:54

Happy Diplo-ing ^^

I wouldn't call those games "Diplo" games. "Real" ffa games are (depending on the settings) very much about diplomacy. You hide your true income, agree to attack an opponent together, secretly stack in the background,...

Those games should be called "non competitive games" and should always be set as practice games. There are to many contradictions in "diplo rules" and the "rules of competitive gaming". In the end it's probably the player who eats the most bonuses of his booted neighbor who wins the game or the host who first claimed his superpower slot.

I find in diplos either everyone starts weak, there is a huge power gap, or so many get booted that it VTEs. This goes for RT and even Multi Day. I played an RT diplo and 20/24 people were booted first turn.

But if you can find a good one, Diplos can be a lot of fun, and a lot of people play them. Just because you don't like the game-style doesn't mean nobody should play them.

Thanks for this summary!
As a player that just recently rediscovered this game and has no idea about those diplo games your post is very helpful. I have just one question about this point:

4. Don't warmonger excessivley; If you're a massive country, don't invade a lot of smaller ones, maybe 1 or two, but crushing only the little countries makes you a jerk, and an ass.

I'm a bit confused. Isn't it the goal of this game to get as powerful as possible? Or is this just the difference between diplo and normal games? As I said, I have no idea about diplo games so an explanation would be very appreciated :)

That is exactly the difference, most diplos are practice game anyway, the goal is to gain the most followers or allies, and usually the games end with a vote

Terowolf, thanks for your advice. You want to get as powerful as possible, without destroying small countries. Julius Caesar is right, you want to get allies, not enemies. Even if you're massive, when everybody teams up on you, you can still be brought down, and the only time people work together is when they see a great threat, such as you, destroying tiny countries for land.

Something uncommon is the UN game. Not where the UN is an alliance, but a full-fledged resolution-maker. It usually falls apart because A) The " Security Council " of Superpowers become de facto controllers of it ( de jure democracy ). B) Nobody participates or not enough people even join it. C) Nobody really cares what the UN says. D) People start migrating away from it and form their own alliances. This is usually caused because disagreements in UN are often the framework for a future Cold War.

In summation, games with UN bodies or the similar in most open games usually are giant catastrophes, whether becoming a middle-man in a puppeteering act, causing the very fractures it should restore, becoming more worthless than paper or becoming non-existant.